Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Hillary Clinton Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2016 56 Comments
The political interference by the White House in the investigation of Hillary Clinton just took a big step up. Previously, in a 60 Minutes interview in October 2015, Obama pretty much signaled Justice to lay off Hillary (emphasis added):
Steve Kroft: Did you know about Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server– President Barack Obama: No. Steve Kroft: –while she was Secretary of State? President Barack Obama: No. Steve Kroft: Do you think it posed a national security problem? President Barack Obama: I don’t think it posed a national security problem. I think that it was a mistake that she has acknowledged and– you know, as a general proposition, when we’re in these offices, we have to be more sensitive and stay as far away from the line as possible when it comes to how we handle information, how we handle our own personal data. And, you know, she made a mistake. She has acknowledged it. I do think that the way it’s been ginned-up is in part because of– in part– because of politics. And I think she’d be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly. But–

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 29, 2016 18 Comments
Bernie Sanders has done plenty of favors for Hillary in this election cycle but instead of having his good will returned, he's coming up against the Clinton smear machine. A rumor is circulating that Sanders supporters are planning to win the Iowa caucus by flooding it with college students from out of state. The rumor is nothing more than a delivery system for the smear which would give Clinton supporters an opportunity to taint a Sanders win in the state. Chuck Ross reported at The Daily Caller:
Sanders Is Furious At David Brock, Hillary’s Loyal Servant And Spin Master Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ripped into David Brock, the head of the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, Correct the Record, after being asked about rumors on Thursday that his campaign was planning to bus out-of-state students into Iowa to take part in Monday’s caucuses.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 29, 2016 4 Comments
In the wake of the news that Bernie Sanders' "free stuff for everyone" proposals will cost taxpayers $19.6 trillion in new taxes, Nancy Pelosi is distancing Democrats from his massive tax increases. The Hill reports:
Democrats are not on board with the tax hikes Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed to pay for his single-payer healthcare proposal, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. "We're not running on any platform of raising taxes," Pelosi said during a press briefing to launch the Democrats' yearly issues conference in Baltimore, Md. "We do want to have a fairer tax system, and … we hope that we can do that this year."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 27, 2016 20 Comments
Hillary has an honesty perception problem, and everyone knows it. That problem surfaced at the CNN Democratic Town Hall the other night, when a young man in the audience questioned Hillary about it: Hey, remember when speaking truth to power was a supposedly liberal ideal? Not in 2016 America. To Joan Walsh, well-known liberal writer and agitator formerly for Salon now for The Nation, the young man's question was pretty impertinent. Particularly since he's male and white. And young. (Admirably, Walsh does disclose that her own daughter works for Clinton.) In an ode to Hillary, Walsh writes, Why I’m Supporting Hillary Clinton, With Joy and Without Apologies (italics in original):

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 27, 2016 34 Comments
At a town hall event in Iowa this week, Hillary Clinton was asked by a supporter if she would consider appointing Barack Obama to the U.S. Supreme Court if she becomes president. She thought it was a great idea. ABC News reports:
Hillary Clinton Would Consider Appointing President Obama to Supreme Court A second Clinton administration could mean a future Justice Barack Obama. At a campaign event in Deocorah, Iowa on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton lit up when a voter asked her if she would consider appointing the president to the Supreme Court should she win the White House. "Wow, what a great idea. No one has ever suggested that to me, I love that, wow," the Democratic presidential candidate responded. "He may have a few other things to do but I tell you that's a great idea."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 26, 2016 15 Comments
One of the most interesting (maybe the only interesting) part of last night's Democratic candidate "town hall" forum was when a young questioner said his friends think Hillary is dishonest. Hillary's answer is irrelevant. Media spin that this shows her strength of durability is nonsense. The questioner reflected a growing public perception that Hillary is corrupt and dishonest, as reflected in this word cloud based on Quinnipiac word-association polling in August 2015. The three most common words used to describe Clinton? “Liar,” “dishonest,” and “untrustworthy.”

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 26, 2016 12 Comments
Barack Obama's greatest fear is being succeeded by a Republican president with a Republican controlled House and Senate. The eight years of his presidency could be virtually erased. The Iran Deal? Gone. Obamacare? Reversed. His executive orders? Over. Knowing that, it's easy to understand why he's starting to sound like a Hillary Clinton supporter. Many high ranking Democrats are encouraged by the enthusiasm surrounding Bernie Sanders but feel he's ultimately unelectable. In an exclusive interview with Politico's Glenn Thrush yesterday, Obama made the case for Hillary:
Exclusive: Obama on Iowa, Clinton, Sanders and 2016 Barack Obama, that prematurely gray elder statesman, is laboring mightily to remain neutral during Hillary Clinton’s battle with Bernie Sanders in Iowa, the state that cemented his political legend and secured his path to the presidency.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 24, 2016 45 Comments
From the moment the Hillary email server scandal broke, there have been conflicting reports and claims about if and how the server was "wiped" clean. At an August 2015 appearance, Hillary famously said she didn't know if it was wiped:
“Did you try to wipe the hard drive?” “I have no idea… that’s why we turned it over … “You were in charge of it, did you wipe the server?” “What, with a cloth or something? …. No”
Since then there are reports that the most sensitive, highest-levels of classified information were found in emails, including human source intel. The material is so sensitive that lawmakers are not even permitted to view the intel that was on Hillary's home server.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 24, 2016 18 Comments
Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton recently co-opted Obamacare. In spite of her criticisms of President Obama's hallmark healthcare legislation, Clinton told supporters that the Affordable Care Act, affectionately known as Obamacare, was "HillaryCare" first. The Hill reported:
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record — rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first. "It was called HillaryCare before it was called ObamaCare,” Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. “I don't want to start over."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2016 43 Comments
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates is hot, hot, hot in progressive circles. His demand for Reparations published in The Atlantic pushed him into the stratosphere. But it was an empty, amateurish effort, as I wrote at the time, The dead-end Case for Reparations:
Coates never gives the answer as to who gets what and how. And that’s ultimately the problem with reparations arguments that are not based upon the people causing the harm paying the people directly harmed by specific conduct soon after the conduct is remedied. If you can’t answer the question of why a Vietnamese boat person has to pay reparations for the conduct of white plantation owners more than a century earlier, then you can’t make the argument. If you can’t answer the question of why two successful black doctors living in a fashionable suburb should get reparations paid for by the white children of Appalachia, then you can’t make the argument.

Posted by New Neo on January 23, 2016 39 Comments
A recent Politico article talks about how Trump might defeat Clinton. The article's lede focuses on potential support among black voters:
If Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States, there will be plenty of surprises along the way. One of the biggest will be the help he gets from black voters. According to Republican pollsters and Trump’s allies, the GOP poll-leader — who has been dogged by accusations of racism, most recently for tweeting out a chart that exaggerated the share of murders committed by blacks — is poised to out-perform with this demographic group in a general-election matchup with Hillary Clinton.
However, although it quotes pollsters, the article doesn't link to any actual polls that show Trump's support from black voters. Nor do those pollsters mention any poll numbers that would support the contention that black voters support Trump.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 23, 2016 10 Comments
Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer this week, Hillary Clinton sought to paint her opponent Bernie Sanders as part of the establishment and she has a valid point. Bernie has served in congress for years which makes him part of the establishment. Hillary Clinton on the other hand is not just part of the establishment, she is the walking embodiment of it. Here's how the conversation went, via CNN:
Hillary Clinton pins 'establishment' label on Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton on Thursday sought to turn Sen. Bernie Sanders' "establishment" attack right back on him -- saying he served in Washington much longer than she did.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2016 21 Comments
Once again, there is buzz about former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro as a possible VP pick for Hillary. Castro was given the position of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services as part of grooming him for the national stage:
2016 identity politics: We’ll meet your Marco Rubio, and raise you a Julian Castro.
And prepping was what Castro needed, since as we pointed out in May 2014, Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio had less responsibility than Mayor Sarah Palin of Wasilla since his position was part time and the city was run by a manager, not the Mayor:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 22, 2016 33 Comments
Earlier this week, Fox News reported Hillary Clinton's emails contained information from the most secretive, classified sources. Their report was based on a letter obtained from the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Charles McCullough III.
Fox News exclusively obtained the text of the unclassified letter, sent Jan. 14 from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III. It laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP). That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.
Blown off as an attack by the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy, Clinton's campaign ignored the specific accusations outlined in the OIG's letter. Friday afternoon, Fox News reported classified information in Hillary's emails exposed intelligence from human spying.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 22, 2016 23 Comments
Retired four-star general and former head of the CIA, David Petraeus, may be demoted for his 2012 scandal involving classified material.
The Pentagon is re-examining whether retired Army Gen. David Petraeus should be retroactively demoted for giving his biographer unauthorized access to classified information, defense officials say. While the Army officially determined last year that Petraeus should retain the status — and pension — of a retired four-star officer, that decision is now under review by Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s office, officials said.
This is a troubling development, given that Hillary Clinton is asking to be promoted to Commander-in-Chief despite her allegedly knowledgeable mishandling of classified electronic communications. But is it really fair to compare the two?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 21, 2016 33 Comments
Establishment Democrats are scared to death of a Bernie Sanders win over Hillary for many of the same reasons the Republican establishment is scared to death of a Ted Cruz primary win: People will lose party jobs and access. In Democratic circles, people like Claire McCaskill are worrying that Bernie will be a general election disaster because Republicans will run ads with a hammer and sickle on them. So how will the self-identified Democratic Socialist convince America to vote for him? Simon & Garfunkel. I agree with this assessment of a new ad released by Sanders:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 20, 2016 17 Comments
SHE'S ONTO US! Wednesday, a spokesman from Democratic presidential frontrunner (?) Hillary Clinton's campaign, "accused the Intelligence Community Inspector General Wednesday of working with Republicans to attack the Democratic presidential front-runner," reports Anita Kumar for McClatchy. In an exclusive report published by Fox News Tuesday, a letter from the Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III, "laid out the findings of a recent comprehensive review by intelligence agencies that identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence known as “special access programs” (SAP)." Also included in the letter was the claim that among the classified information contained in Clinton's emails were data of the most secretive nature. Intelligence Community Inspector General Charles McCullough III was appointed by President Obama and confirmed with laudations from Democrats as the best man for the job. But that's irrelevant. Forget addressing the substantive claims of the Fox News report; Hillary's campaign whipped out an old 90s era retort. Clearly, the Intelligence Community Inspector General was colluding with the vast right-wing conspiracy to undermine her candidacy.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 19, 2016 31 Comments
Hillary Clinton's decision to use a private email account while serving as Secretary of State was a security disaster if ever there was one. Not only did she route her personal email account through a home-brewed server (a home-brewed server that was kept in the bathroom), classified information has been found in over 1,000 emails reviewed by the Department of State. Worse still, emails released by the State Department as part of court-ordered monthly document dump suggest Hillary instructed subordinates to remove classified designations from documents in order to send them through insecure channels. Now, the Inspector General says Hillary's emails contained information from the most secretive, classified sources.
Accessibility by WAH